Some quotes tap into major themes of “It,” bringing out expressions that directly convene the characters’ actions and thoughts. One may also notice how Stephen King blends the quotes in “It” with a unique epistolary writing style that gives the novel an incredible realism as it adds more physical and thematic layers to the primary plot.
Fear
It’s as if I have fallen into a story, and everyone knows you’re not supposed to feel this afraid until the end of the story, when the haunter of the dark finally comes out of the woodwork to feed… on you, of course.
Mike Hanlon – Derry: The First Interlude
The quote above is a statement made by Mike Hanlon, who discovered that the one thing he dreaded, the monster of his childhood, had woken up from its slumber and unleashed its head of terror.
From the statement, Mike says his fear is a trance, where one’s momentary fear is nothing compared to what lies ahead. On discovering IT(Pennywise) had returned, Mike made the choice he had always dreaded. He called the Losers Club to fulfill their blood promise.
If you took a casual glance at me, you might think He’s been reading too many books, but that’s all. I doubt you’d guess how hard the man with the mild bank teller’s face is now struggling just to hold on, to hold on to his own mind…
Mike Hanlon – Derry: The First Interlude
Here, Mike’s greatest fear was not just about having to face IT. His greatest fear was picking up the phone and calling his friends back. He knew his call would break their minds and could result in suicide; this made Mike doubt himself, as he knew he had to be imagining or hallucinating a dreadful nightmare.
It was full of monsters, she said, full of monsters chasing after little children. There were killings and… I don’t know… bad feelings and hurt. stuff like that.
Patricia Uris – Chapter 3
Here, Patricia Uris, Stan’s wife, expresses her fear of the books written by Bill. Though clueless, she felt Bill went a little too far in expressing his horror books as they feature little children at the center of killings and terrible tragedies. Unknown to her, it was all real, and the fear that tortured her husband and his friends had returned for its pound of flesh.
Because this wasn’t safe like a movie, where you knew everything would turn out all right and even if it didn’t it was no skin off your ass.
Richie Tozier – Chapter 8
When Richie and Bill talk about Eddie’s encounter with a leper, Bill decides to investigate. Richie stops and talks sense into him. He explains that IT was probably a terrifying monster that would not succumb to mere bullet wounds.
Coming of Age
Maybe all of that is finally past me, I am not that girl of eighteen anymore, I am a woman of thirty-six; the girl who heard the endless click and grate of those driveway stones, the girl who twisted away from Mike Rosenblatt’s hand when he tried to comfort her because it was a Jewish hand, was half a life ago. That silly little mermaid is dead. I can forget her now and just be myself.
Patricia Uris – Chapter 3
The statement above is a thought from Patricia Uris, Stan’s wife. Her thought showed her transcendence from childhood into adulthood. She brags about how much she has matured from eighteen to thirty-six years. “It” is a book that focuses on the loss of childhood innocence, not only for the members of the Losers Club but for others as well.
I doubt if any kid who hadn’t been through the things we went through ever did, he said. But I said them… and I meant them.
Ben Hanscom – Chapter 10
Here, Bill and Ben reminisced about the events that had happened to them as children and how they affected them while growing up. Though each member of the Losers Club had a great life, they could never forget the horror of their childhood, and that dread stuck with them even as they matured into adults.
If this is the stuff adults have to think about, I never want to grow up.
Bill Denbrough – Chapter 14
Bill makes this statement to show his fear of not wanting to mature from childhood. He felt guilty as he realized he was using his friends to settle the score between him and his brother’s murderer. Bill’s resolve for revenge, he thought, was a selfish and unnecessary desire since his brother was already dead; this made him scared of himself and the adult thoughts he felt he was having.
Eddie discovered one of his childhood’s great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought.
Eddie Kaspbrak – Chapter 16
This quote shows one of the realizations Eddie made after growing up. Eddie realized that childhood is peaceful, and they were better off as children than adults. He discovered that people turn into the things they hate the most when they become adults.
Friendship
Maybe there aren’t any such things such as good friends or bad friends – maybe there are just friends, people who stand by you when you’re hurt and who help you feel not so lonely. Maybe they’re always being worth scared for and living for. Maybe worth dying for too, if that’s what has to be. No good friends. No bad friends. Only people you want, need to be with; people who build their houses in your heart.
Eddie Kaspbrak – Chapter 16
This quote resonates with the true ideology of what friendship means. Stephen King states that friends are not good or bad. Friends are people who are there for each other. The Losers Club exhibited true friendship by being there for each other. The sacrifice made by Eddie and the others injured led them to defeat IT.
Revenge
I’m still Bill Denbrough. You killed my brother, and you killed Stan, the man. You tried to kill Mike. And I am going to tell you something: this time I’m not going to stop until the job’s done.
Bill Denbrough – Chapter 22
Bill’s statement here marks when Bill’s anger and hate towards IT converged. Having been tortured by the death of his brother George and the death of his friend Stan, Bill unleashes his bottled-up emotions as his quest for revenge reaches its end.
Oh, you’ll believe… you’ll see. This time, Little Buddy, I intend you to see everything, including the deadlights.
IT – Chapter 22
A character that sought revenge throughout the entire book was IT. With rage and anger after being defeated by a bunch of little 11-year-olds, IT decides on ultimate revenge on the Losers Club. The monster’s strive for vengeance gave the Losers Club an upper hand to defeat it.
It means to kill him … kill his body, anyway … while his mind is somewhere else. It means to shut him out forever. It’s winning … Bill, where are you? For Christ’s sake, where are you?
Ricie Tozier – Chapter 22
Richie knew that if Bill did not end It once and for all, the monster would continue its reign of terror. When he realized Bill needed dire help in IT’s mind, he tried waking him up but failed. Meanwhile, IT advanced towards his archenemy as his hatred for the Losers Club soared through the sky.
The Beginning
I’m the Turtle, son. I made the universe, but please don’t blame me for it; I had a bellyache.
Maturin – Chapter 22
Help me! Please help me!
—I take no stand in these matters.
My brother—
—has his own place in the macroverse; energy is eternal, as even a child such as yourself must understand
Maturin’s existence explains why IT was evil; he just existed that way. The Losers Club did not realize they were fighting a monster fundamentally evil for the sake of it. IT’s existence was predetermined, and even he could not change the outcomes of his action.
Pain
Her eyes widened with surprise and pain … and something else as well. Her own hand flew to her cheek to investigate the warmth and tingling numbness there. She cried out Owww! Tom!
Beverly Marsh – Chapter 3
Beverly had a tormented life. She lived with an abusive father who always beat her, and even after she became an adult, she suffered at the hands of a man who saw women as sex objects. Beverly’s encounter with abuse and pain twisted her view of the world.
Grief or no grief, pain or no pain, he was, after all, just a queer. Like his friend, the late Adrian Mellon.
Harold Gardener – Chapter 2
Harold was a homophobe who could not bring himself to empathize with Don, Adrian’s friend. He reasoned that the men’s sexuality made them somewhat underserving of some acknowledgment. However, he never knew the problems of Derry were about to begin.
